As I promissed I will run a new forum RPG. I havn't decided on a system, yet. Probably pathfinder. I have to read the rules first, though. We use the easy to learn and free to play Dungeonslayers. http://www.dungeonslayers.com/?page_id=112 I will modify the rules as I see fit.

There are still open slots.

Character creation:

6.) Please state his position and status, personality and appearance. Noble born or otherwise high social status is preferable, but not a necessity. 7.) Also important are the relationships you have to NPCs, friend or foes. I will incorporate them in the scenario.8.) Class and stats should reflect your character, not the other way round. If none of the described classes fits your taste, I am willing to create a new one. 9.) The game will start at the king's royal court. What is your reason to be there at the time?10.) Remember you are lvl 1, so your position can't be very high. Think along the lines of a nobles child, a squire or the court wizard's apprentice.Also name three NPCs who are important to your character in one way or another. Be creative.

Keep in mind:

6.) There will no XP-reward for killing enemies. You will earn XP when you overcome challenges and complete quests.7.) At some points I plan to let you decide how story goes on. No railroading but dynamic growth. Let's find out, where we will end up!8.) Good roleplay will be rewarded. I'd appreciate it if you explained your actions or describe your intentions rather than just saying what you do. 9.) I will show no mercy. If you run into battle head first against superior forces, you WILL die. Period.

Last edited by knolli on Thu May 23, 2013 7:47 am, edited 3 times in total.

Whatever system you're most familiar with is okay by me. Hook us up with a good link for character generation, yeah?

I will play a good-aligned Necromancer (probably human).

I am Scribe Nebul, one of the students of (insert head court wizard's name here). The magician's academy has the star pupil from each school of magic serving under him, and even the dark arts must be studied in order for them to be understood - and defeated. Nebul shows promise in the dark arts, and is a keeper of the dead - one who is able to manipulate the powers of undeath in order to restore order to the realm of the dead, and keep it from spilling into the world of the living. Sometimes, Nebul is able to commune with the spirits of the dead in order to seek information, or just speak to a long-lost friend.

I am a serial killer. I killed six women, the courts only know I killed one.

The most important NPCs are: Head Eunuch Minh, my good friend and fellow eunuch Patel and Lysa, the one who got away.

Wrong story, dude, wrong story. The king has enough noble born page boys and more trustworthy servants and no need to force untrustworthy criminals into the job. But if you want to play a brutish criminal, there are workarounds. You could play a prisoner in the palace cell waiting for his execution or a member of an organization similar to the night's watch from Game of Thrones, a convicted criminal that rather serves as a sworn fighter for the rest of his life than to face his punishment.

IVhorseman wrote:Whatever system you're most familiar with is okay by me. Hook us up with a good link for character generation, yeah?

The systems I am most familiar with are the german "The Dark Eye"(Das schwarze Auge, DSA) and "Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay". DSA is far to complex and complicated for a forum RPG. In Warhammer, you are very resticted in your character developement, although the same is true for DnD or pathfinder. Maybe Dungeonslayers is a good alternative, because it's quite simplistic, easy to learn and still powerfull with the right modifications. And it's free to play. http://www.dungeonslayers.com/?page_id=112 But if you know a system that is better suited , I'd like to hear your suggestions.

IVhorseman wrote:I will play a good-aligned Necromancer (probably human).I am Scribe Nebul, one of the students of (insert head court wizard's name here). The magician's academy has the star pupil from each school of magic serving under him, and even the dark arts must be studied in order for them to be understood - and defeated. Nebul shows promise in the dark arts, and is a keeper of the dead - one who is able to manipulate the powers of undeath in order to restore order to the realm of the dead, and keep it from spilling into the world of the living. Sometimes, Nebul is able to commune with the spirits of the dead in order to seek information, or just speak to a long-lost friend.

Approved. I like the "white necromancer" idea. And all the interesting situations that can lead to.

I played a good necromancer once, using some exploit I found in the combination of Book of Exalted Deed, Libris Mortis, and Hallowfaust: City of Necromancers by Sword and Sorcery Studios as part of their Scarred Lands series. Super OP. A friend played a Dwarven warrior with the leadership feat and his own merc company. The deal was, when a merc died he signed his bones over to me and he continued to serve. We were completely unstoppable. Felt a little bad for the DM. But only a little.

I'm thinking I will play a guard/soldier, who is torn between his oath of loyalty, and his witnessing of/participating in acts of injustice in the name of the king. I have work soon, and will work on this more, later.

I spent the last hours reading into the pathfinder core rules. Most of it sounds very familiar. Both Pathfinder and dungeonslayers focus of battles. Since I don't want to role dice for hours and would prefer to handle combat describtively, we would forego many of the rules strong points. To speed up fights I ask you to tell me what your plan of action will be for the whole skirmish (instead of going one round after another) and I will try to anticipate your characters' course of action. I will only ask you for further instruction when there is a major change in the situation.

Another problem I see with both Pathfinder and Dungeonslayers is that casters have a very limited set of spells in the beginning but high level spells tend to be rather powerfull. So whatever the case I will modify the rules a bit.

@ IVhorseman: Since you already went to the trouble to make a character, let's go with that. So Dungeonslayers it is. But I have to ask you to modify your character a bit. 1st, the Talents Servant of Darkness and Servant of Light are banished from the game. All player characters are no chosen champions of either side.2nd, instead you can learn the homemade, majorly athmospheric Talent Magic Sense: Necromancy.

Magic Sense: Necromancy: You are sensible to the flows of magic connected to death. During meditaion you can visit the gates to the afterlife and even attempt to talk to the spirits of the recently deceased. Furthermore you can detect necromantic magic that is or was used nearby as well as otherwise invisible ghosts.

Your choice of weapon is a bit uncommen, but I'm okay with it. I will also expand the ass of spells for your school, using ideas from other games like Weaken, Wither, Drain Health, Wave of Pain, Wave of Purgation (kills vermin). Heal can also count as a necromancy spell. Would you please name three NPCs that are important for your character's daily life?

Pwnerade wrote:I'm thinking I will play a guard/soldier, who is torn between his oath of loyalty, and his witnessing of/participating in acts of injustice in the name of the king. I have work soon, and will work on this more, later.

How about a young and idialistic squire and noble knight-to-be?

PS: I like to play with characters, not just a bunch of stats. So if you want to join, please tell me the concept for your character first, his personality and ambitions, his social status and history, and we will apply the rules later; and bend them if neccessary.

I wanted to be more sociopathic but I think I'll change my character. I'd like to be the Baron of Wodenst, a small town a few hundred miles south. I have come to offer tribute to the king. I'll write my three people in a few hours.

Sounds good. Magic Sense: Necromancy it is. Expanded spell list is cool - I'm mostly going with the bow because I didn't want ray of fire, and my ranged attack bonus is actually pretty respectable. Mostly, it's unusual and I know I'll get better ranged spells (read: shadow arrow) as I level up so I'm not gonna worry about it.

My three most important NPCs, in order of importance, are:

1. Resco, the high master wizard of the King. He is a master of spellcasting, and headmaster of the school of magic. He is a man cloaked in shadow, believing all magic must be discovered in order to know the divine truth of the matter. He spends most of his days engrossed in ancient tomes, occasionally conjuring small bits of bread and fruit out of thin air to sustain himself. He rarely intervenes in school matters.2. Master Laurence, my personal tutor in the dark arts. A man with a questionable past, Laurence once served under a dark necromancer as his right hand, but betrayed him when the burden of his evil grew too great. He has since dedicated his life towards teaching others how to recognize, and defend themselves from, the blacker side of magic. Nebul is his shining pupil in the darkness, and Laurence views his education as penance for the sins of his past.3. Quanire, Elven healer and best friend. Nebul can always trust Quanire to provide him with access to holy tools and information about the gods of good. Quanire fully understands Nebul's usage of necromancy as a necessary burden in order to truly disarm the forces of darkness, and believes in fighting fire with fire. Quanire trusts Nebul's judgement, and usually defends his actions.

This looks like an easy enough system to learn, and I want to see how cool it is to consider playing with my friends. Strict DnD is a little too much for some of them, but this is simple enough for a lot of my friends to really get into, I think. Time to see if it's fun!

I'm tired of waiting so let's begin. I will introduce new player characters as they come along. Nebul is lying on his Bed. It had been a hard day running errands for his master, studying and minor tasks. Cleaning up after the slightly senile Master Resco is much harder work than you would think. His small chamber is right next to his master's room at the top floor of the Wizard's Tower at the northern end of the palace. If he sat up, Nebul could see the lights of the ships in the harbor of Krandor below through the open window. While he is waiting for the well earned sleep memories of the past days cross his mind. Some of the maidservants had spreat rumors of a new crime wave in the city. More murders than usual. Maybe the thieves guild has quarrel with some outsiders again? One of the suspects would meet his trial in the morning. It is pretty clear that he will hang by noon. Then there was the Duke's embassy who had arrived in the evening and demanded to be received in audience immediatelly. He had made such a fuss that the Lion Guard (the king's personal guards and the best and most honorable knights of the realm) had to step in. Well, normal business for the king's court and it is very unlikely that it would bear any direct relevance for Nebul. Unless Master Resco was asked to participate at the court again and needed a handservant. Nebul wishes, Master Laurence would finally come back. He is already a week late. And Nebul has already finished all the homework and come up with so many questions to ask him. What was he doing anyway? Nobody seems to know where the king had sent him - or why.

Suddenly he finds himself at the Gates to the Land Beyond. He didn't want to get here. And he has never come here by accident before. In the contrary, it usually is a difficult task that requires hard training and several hours of meditation. Immediatelly he notices that something is terribly wrong. ...

Magic weapon lets me hit ghosts, too? Oh I so picked the right spells! Anyways, anything in Italics from now on is considered in-character speech, thoughts, and actions. Non-italics will just be my general OOC strategy + musings.

I turn around, but the usual fogs of the realm are holding me in place as always. It's the most terrifying aspect of the Plane of Death: without total concentration and years of discipline, it's very easy to become trapped on the other side. The fog is meant to hold the life-force belonging to the dead, but sometimes an outsider is forced to join them. I only pray that I'll be able to slip out after doing a bit of searching.

Immediately, I notice that there are more souls lined up at the gates than usual, and that it's already crowded on the other side. What's going on here? I call out for an idle spirit to approach me. Perhaps one of the former guardians like myself, who have passed into the realm of the dead.

IVhorseman wrote:Magic weapon lets me hit ghosts, too? Oh I so picked the right spells! Anyways, anything in Italics from now on is considered in-character speech, thoughts, and actions. Non-italics will just be my general OOC strategy + musings.

I turn around, but the usual fogs of the realm are holding me in place as always. It's the most terrifying aspect of the Plane of Death: without total concentration and years of discipline, it's very easy to become trapped on the other side. The fog is meant to hold the life-force belonging to the dead, but sometimes an outsider is forced to join them. I only pray that I'll be able to slip out after doing a bit of searching.

Immediately, I notice that there are more souls lined up at the gates than usual, and that it's already crowded on the other side. What's going on here? I call out for an idle spirit to approach me. Perhaps one of the former guardians like myself, who have passed into the realm of the dead.

Where you expect to see the souls of the dead standing in line and waiting for permission to pass the Gates you see them hesitating. Many are idling about and not a few are glancing back to the world of the living. The crowd on the other side is just gathered at the Gates. There are not more souls than usual, but there seems to be a rather uncommon kind of traffic jam.

Your remember your training and check for your way home. To your relief you can still see the line of pulsating life connecting you to your body. You can even see your slumbering form through the fog bright and clear. Somehow you have the impression that you can get back as easily as you got here. On second thought, that is even more frightening. On closer inspection the fog is much less dense than it used to be and it looks ill, in lack of a better word. To your fear you realize that the border between the plains is seriously weakenend.

You look around for a familiar soul. You know that some priests of Boron, the God of Death and Sleep, abstain from their right to pass the Gates until their next brother in faith arrives to take their place as Gate Guard. You have met them before and compared to most of the recently deceased they tend to be on the sainer side. If you want something remotely resembling a straight answer, they are the ones to ask. Unfortunetelly you can't find them anywhere, which frightens you even more.Then you spot a strange presence: A visitor like you, distinguishable by his pulsing connection to the living world.

Physikal weapons would be rather piontless in a nonmaterial plane. What do you want them for anyway? Kill somebody?